Saturday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time
“The Lord speaks peace to his people” See Psalm 85:9b
The above quote is the response from today’s Responsorial Psalm. Given the wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, and other parts of the world; the destruction in the Caribbean by Hurricane Beryl; anxiety over climate change; political discord in our country; etc., it is difficult to see where there is peace. Therefore, today’s Psalm encourages us to listen to God’s message of peace. What is God telling us about peace?
As I was reflecting on today’s readings earlier, I was struck by Psalm 85:11-12: “Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace will kiss. Truth will spring out of the earth; justice shall look down from heaven.” Perhaps these lines give us insight into God’s peace. Peace is connected to kindness (or love in some translations), truth, and justice. We see these themes throughout the Gospel when Jesus reached out to those in need and the marginalized and preached about God’s mercy. Today’s first reading from Amos indicates that peace means to be in relationship with God and to thrive in God’s love.
Our call as followers of Jesus Christ is to live a life of peace with kindness, truth, and justice like Brother Miguel Ángel Quiroga, SM, a Marianist Brother from Colombia who worked with the poor and marginalized indigenous people in the Choco rainforest. He particularly helped poor indigenous peasants understand and exercise their right to own land, which they could not do before 1992. Land ownership is a way to open up more economic possibilities, and he helped them take advantage of this opportunity. In 1998, he was killed by paramilitaries after trying to nonviolently stand up for the farmworkers he worked with. Perhaps there won’t be a time in our lives where we face death in speaking out for the voiceless, but today’s Responsorial Psalm can challenge us and help us reflect on how to live a life of peace which involves addressing issues of injustice.
—Sr. Emily Sandoval, FMI